Wong begins Cardinals’ homer parade in 11-6 win over Braves

JUPITER, FL - FEBRUARY 20: Kolten Wong #16 of the St. Louis Cardinals poses for a portrait at Roger Dean Stadium on February 20, 2018 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Wong begins Cardinals’ homer parade in 11-6 win over Braves

JUPITER, FL - FEBRUARY 20: Kolten Wong #16 of the St. Louis Cardinals poses for a portrait at Roger Dean Stadium on February 20, 2018 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

ATLANTA (AP) _ Kolten Wong hit the first of four St. Louis homers, Miles Mikolas won his third straight start and the Cardinals beat the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves 11-6 on Monday night to give their playoff push another boost.

St. Louis has 35 victories since the All-Star break, most in the National League, and has won two straight after losing four in a row. The Cardinals, who also got homers from Paul DeJong, Harrison Bader, and Yadier Molina, began the night tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second NL wild card.

The Braves took a third consecutive loss after winning a season-best six straight games. They remained 6{ games ahead in the division following Philadelphia’s loss to the Mets, which reduced Atlanta’s magic number to seven as the Braves try to clinch their first NL East title in five years.

Mike Foltynewicz (11-10) walked three of the first five batters he faced _ one intentionally _ and hit Yadier Molina with a pitch before Wong’s opposite-field, two-run single gave St. Louis a 3-0 lead in the first.

Atlanta pitchers have issued 32 walks over the last four games, all at home, where they are 38-37 and have dropped nine of their last 12.

Mikolas (16-4) allowed four hits, two runs, and one walk while striking out six in five innings. The right-hander, who leads the NL in fewest walks per nine innings, improved to 16-0 when getting at least two runs of support, and the Cardinals are 21-3 in those games.

After Freddie Freeman’s 22nd homer made it a one-run game in the third, the Cardinals went up 4-2 in the fourth on Wong’s ninth homer and 6-2 in the fifth on DeJong’s 18th homer and Marcell Ozuna’s RBI double. St. Louis improved to an NL-best 40-19 when hitting a road homer.

Foltynewicz allowed five hits, six runs and four walks with two strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Coming off a complete-game victory at San Francisco, Foltynewicz had gone 4-2 with a 1.84 ERA in his last eight starts, but he couldn’t overcome a lack of fastball control.

Nick Markakis drove in a run with his NL-leading 42nd double, coming against Dakota Hudson in the seventh, to pull the Braves to 6-5. But then Jesse Biddle gave up a pair of two-out walks in the eighth, and Bader, a defensive replacement in the seventh, hit a three-run homer to put St. Louis up 9-5.

The Braves had a chance to do more damage in the bottom half of the inning against Carlos Martinez after Ronald Acuna Jr.’s RBI single cut the lead to 9-6, but Martinez struck out Freeman with the bases loaded.

Molina hit his 18th homer, a two-run shot off Arodys Vizcaino, in the ninth.

BAD MOVES

Cardinals CF Yairo Munoz made two errors in the sixth that let Atlanta cut the lead to 6-4. He dropped the ball after picking up Ender Inciarte’s single, allowing Inciarte to advance to second and Johan Camargo to third. Munoz made a throwing error to third on Tyler Flowers’ single, allowing both runners to score.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Manager Mike Shildt said RHP Bud Norris wasn’t available because of irritated skin on his right middle finger. Norris left Sunday night’s win over the Dodgers after walking the only batter he faced.

Braves: Camargo, the team’s everyday third baseman went 1 for 5 in his return to the lineup after missing the past four games with left groin tightness.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: LHP Austin Gomber (5-1, 3.78 ERA) will make his first career start against Atlanta on Tuesday. Gomber allowed seven runs and nine hits in his last start, lasting three innings in a 9-7 loss to the Dodgers.

Braves: RHP Anibal Sanchez (6-5, 3.01 ERA) seeks his first victory since Aug. 3, a span of eight starts in which he’s 1-1 with a 3.02 ERA.